Pour a cola like brown color with a small off white head that settles into a light ring.

The aroma is weak. Some brown bread notes with hints of raisin. No bourbon aroma which is very odd.

The taste is sweet. Sweet brown bread/pumpernickel malt with caramel. Nice bourbon sweetness. Some hints of char and roast but not a lot there. Slight raisin flavor. Kind of disappoints, needs more depth.

The feel is moderate with softish carbonation. Sweet on the palate hangs on the cloying edge. It's on the edge but does drink well.

I wanted to like this beer more but I think it missed its mark. Not enough depth or barrel flavor. Both base beer and barrel both lacking. That said not a bad brew, no off flavors.

been sitting on this since the release a while back, tonight seemed like the appropriate night to pop it as i'm celebrating some local successes and this is a local limited release.

batch 004bottle # 50 / 180

aged in hudson bourbon barrels

a - poured the 16oz? bottle into my blue point snifter (keeping things local!)...the brew filled the glass to the top with a really attractive lush deep purple red brown liquid that settled in the glass pretty much black...to the light i see some crimson highlights, but they are few and far between as the light hardly penetrates the beer. a thin bubbly head that bubbled away shortly after the beer settled in the glass.

s - as a big fan of the scotch ale style (particularly when aged in bourbon!) i was pleasantly surprised by the classic toasted caramel smell smoothed over by some chocolate notes from the booze infused wood.

m - drinks like a dream. SUPER smooth, goes down like a glass of juice...carbonation is very light, but it works incredibly well. the booze is invisible.

o - not sure if the time i held this played a role in everything being just perfectly placed or if this was a winner right out of the gate, but it is a winner right now. i am floored by this beer. i have not been overly impressed with much of what comes out of long island in general, but there are a few diamonds in the rough, and this beer is a gem. i wish this wasn't my only bottle as i would've loved to have shared this. oh well, more for me...i will certainly savor this one while i can.

I had this mouthful of an ale at TJ Finelys in Bayshore, NY last night and I was excited to learn that it was based on a friend's homebrew plans. While I had tasted this on cask previously and liked it, I was waiting to see if it was going to full production.

The tap version captured an unusual element of layers within the beer that I have rarely tasted. Maybe it was akin to the cream in a filled donut that struck me as new for the beer as the bourbon barrel influence was very prominent on top of a very good ale.

The aroma of bourbon coupled with the taste confirmed the abv was well above the mentioned 7%.

The taste was very pleasant and malty. It left me with the idea that the hops were merely waived over the top of the mashing vat.

I didn't think I would normally take more than two in any sitting. Okay, I had three...but it was its first arrival and we were having a great time too.